Discovery
by Elvarya
Summary: Roran is leading a mission, which is giving him insane amounts of stress. Carn is there, being his best friend, as usual. But things go a bit further one night. Carn/Roran SLASH. Nothing graphic. Ratedd T to be safe.


Well, I was over on tumblr discussing Inheritance with greendaycangetinmytardis and I mentioned that I shipped Carn/Roran (affectionately called Caron by me, at least) and then she asked me to write it. So this happened. I'm sorry.  
>~X~<p>

It was the fifteenth day of a mission, and Roran could feel the dissent being sewn in the ranks. It wasn't any one person doing it, he knew that. But that also made it all the more difficult to deal with.

It was simply a difficult mission. They'd been gone for two weeks, and they'd been on thin rations since the outset. They hadn't carried much with them, and beyond the small amount of food they'd brought, they'd been forced to survive on what they could find, which amounted to some berries and nuts here and there, and a stray animal, if a man was lucky enough to catch one.

Every day, he grew even more relieved that Carn was there with him. His presence was calming, even if his control of magic still unnerved Roran. Anything like that did. Maybe it was the knowledge that the man before him could murmur a few words and kill him. Maybe it was the strange elf-like wisdom that came from all the magicians he'd met. Or maybe he was just being paranoid.

He didn't know. Either way, he was still happy Carn was there. He was the same rank as the rest of the men, still under Roran's command, but he was a friend, and he spoke to Roran as an equal.

Though, that was perhaps because he knew Roran wouldn't punish him.

He laughed out loud at that, earning him a confused look from Carn. It was late at night and most of the twenty five soldiers under Roran's command had retired for the night. Roran had remained awake, sitting by the fire, feeling the warmth seep into him. Carn was directly across from him, and he could tell the magician had something on his mind.

"Spit it out, Carn," he commanded, the first to speak in probably an hour. They'd been sitting in silence, both listening to the crackle of the fire and the call of the owl in a nearby tree. "You've been giving me that same strange look for an hour. What is it?"

"It…it's nothing," he replied uncertainly.

"I know you, my friend," Roran insisted. "Now, I could _order_ you to tell me…" That earned him a shaky laugh from Carn, and at that point, Roran knew something was definitely going on. Hearing several joints crack as he did so, he hauled himself up and moved to the other side of the fire, next to Carn. "Okay, something's going on. Tell me."

"Is than an order, sir?" he challenged half-heartedly.

"It's a vehement request."

Carn took a deep breath. "It's nothing, Roran. I'm just tired."

"I'm your friend, Carn," Roran pressed. "And you're my closest friend. You're the only person I can really trust to be honest with me. Also, you know I won't let this go."

"Roran," he said again, but he trailed off. Roran didn't say anything, though. He could hear in his friend's tone that he had more to say. "You have Katrina, and a child on the way. I shouldn't say anything."

"Okay, now I'm ordering you to tell me." The mention of Katrina had definitely caught his attention.

"It doesn't matter, it could never happen," Carn said, his tone obviously despairing.

Roran sighed and wrapped an arm around Carn, leaning closer and lowering his voice. He was _trying_ to be reassuring, because Carn was obviously in distress, something he really didn't handle well, but he wasn't sure how well the effect came off.

"Okay, don't tell me if you don't want to," he murmured. "I was just trying to-"

His words were cut off as Carn turned his head and closed the small distance between them, sealing their lips in a kiss.

It definitely surprised Roran at first. Surprised him because this was Carn, and he'd never kissed a man before, and where the hell had this come from? Instinctively, he pulled away, recoiling with thoughts of Katrina, and their unborn child, and what would she think of Roran like this with another man?

Carn looked away, gazing at the fire. "I knew it wouldn't work," he murmured, and then he started to rise, but Roran caught him by the arm, stopping him.

Oh, what was he about to do? He was pretty sure he'd end up regretting this by morning, but whatever. He was doing this.

He pulled Carn back to him, kissing him again, and throwing everything he had into it. He didn't think he'd ever even kissed Katrina this passionately!

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. Maybe a few seconds, maybe a few hours. Either way, Carn pulled away first, but Roran trailed after him, obviously wanting more.

"The watchman," he gasped. "Don't want him to see."

Roran nodded. "My tent is right over there." He was surprised that he could even stand, that his legs could support him, but they somehow made their way into Roran's tent, falling together onto the ground and completely losing themselves in each other.


End file.
